Stab resistant body armor is typically constructed in one of two ways. One approach is to use a puncture resistant textile in a 15-30 ply layup to defeat spike threats. This approach however has limited capacity to stop higher energy attacks, and little or no performance for edged weapons.
Another approach is to use solid elements to protect against knife threats. A classic version of this approach is chain-male, which has good performance on knives, but poor performance on spikes and no performance on needles. Another version is to use a mosaic pattern of adjacent or overlapping solid tiles or other solid elements. However, this approach typically remains vulnerable to stab attacks at junctures between the solid elements, especially at certain critical angles of attack.
The main source of weakness for many of these mosaic solid element systems is their flex points. Mosaic solutions such as those defined in U.S. Pat. No. 7,874,239 have nearly continuous protective coverage. Unlike chain-male ring systems that have broadly discontinuous coverage, because each ring is at least partly open, the mosaic system of U.S. Pat. No. 7,874,239 is not vulnerable to needle and spike attacks normal or up to approximately 20 degrees away from normal. However, with reference to the simplified example of FIG. 1, at 45 degrees from normal the flex points in this mosaic solution can be defeated, for example by a spike as shown in FIG. 1, which is able to cut through the crest of the hem on the solid element at 45 degrees and pass under the adjacent solid element, leaving the threat with enough energy to penetrate the remaining fabric layers. The same effect is seen at angles of 65 degrees from normal. This problem can be especially acute when a penetrator strikes an apex in the mosaic system, due to the enhanced flexibility of the apexes, where the apexes are the points where the gaps between solid elements meet each other.
Some combination solutions attempt to overcome the limitations of the textile and solid element approaches by combining both solid elements and textile layups in a single design. However, this approach has issues with cost, thickness, and flexibility.
What is needed, therefore, is a stab-resistant mosaic body armor that protects against knife, spike, and needle attacks at virtually all attack angles, including at apexes, while minimizing cost and thickness and maximizing flexibility.